Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary
The Gospel text before us today, John 20:19-31, is regarded by many scholars as the original ending of the Gospel of John.* In v 31, the writer states the purpose of his book: that those who read or hear it “may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.” Verses 19-29 show us how that happened among Jesus’ disciples. Jesus’ words and actions fulfill promises and predictions from the “Farewell Discourse” of chs 14-16. Seeing his wounds, his disciples, including Thomas, come to believe that Jesus has passed through death to life.
The disciples are huddled in lockdown on the evening of that “first day,” despite Mary Magdalene’s startling message that she has seen Jesus alive. Suddenly, Jesus is in the room. His greeting is, “Peace.” Do they recall, then, that he promised exactly this before his passion (14:11; 16:30-31)? Observing his wounds, do they remember how he promised before his arrest that he would go away, but later return (14:3, 18-19, 28-29; 16:16-22)? Maybe it is only when Jesus breathes into them the Holy Spirit—again, fulfilling a repeated promise (14:15-17, 26; 15:26-27; 16:7-15)—that they recognize that everything is unfolding just as he said it would: “I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe” (14:29; cf 16:30-31). But what, exactly, do they believe: simply that Jesus is alive? Or do they discern that cosmic import of his rising: a new creation? The early church will come, slowly, to articulate this. Ironically, Thomas—wrongly dubbed “doubter,” since he asks only the same evidence the rest of them saw—sees Jesus most clearly: “My Lord and my God!”
Belief is not a noun, but a verb, in John. To believe in the risen Son of God is to assume a new reality, to live by different rules—the rules of a universe in which death does not have the last word. This frees us to speak out and act fearlessly to set others free from every enslaving power (v. 23), including sin (which means “unbelief” in John). ** John has written his gospel precisely “so that [readers] may believe in Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God and have life” (20:31). To that same end, we preach: to help our listeners glimpse the changed world of Easter, and with new sight, to dare to live in the new creation inaugurated at our Lord’s resurrection. Easter preaching is essentially a daring act of reimagination. If our listeners are meant to be Spirit-driven agents of daring, new-creation hope, what does that look like in our historical moment? What does resurrection look like on your streets today?
*Chapter 21, while authentically reflecting Johannine tradition, may have been added later.
**For an arresting alternative reading regarding “retaining sins” see: Sandra Schneiders, “The Lamb of God and Forgiveness of Sin(s) in the Fourth Gospel”, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 73 (2011), 1-29. The second phrase doesn’t include “sins”, suggesting we “take hold” of persons in a positive sense.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 